Books Meme - with commentary!
Nov. 18th, 2005 11:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sinanju(gacked from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fallenpegasus who gacked it from seawasp) Bold what you've read, strike out what you don't like, italicize what you'd like to read but haven't yet...
1.The HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- Douglas Adams -- I didn't hate it, I just didn't care for it. It's that dry-as-dust, all-too-amused-with-one's-own-humor vibe that turns me off.
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell -- A classic I'm glad I read, but not nearly as formative of my libertarian leanings as his Animal Farm, which I first experienced a chapter at a time when my second grade teacher read it to the class every day after lunch.
3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley -- Another classic I'm glad to have read but will probably never read again.
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip K. Dick -- Never read it, probably never will. I've heard lots of good things about Dick, but I've also heard enough to know that his style (and themes and tone and whatnot) would not be a good fit for me.
5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson -- An entertaining book. His conception of cyberspace is fascinating and colorful but utterly unrealistic. For my money, a better cyberpunk novel is Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired.
6. Dune -- Frank Herbert -- A classic, and fascinating reading. But I tried to read the (first) sequel and bounced off. Never went back, never read any of the seemingly endless sequels.
7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov -- I know I read it, but....
8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov -- I doubt I could sit thru it now, but I read it during my college years, when I was reading everything science fiction & fantasy related that I could get my hands on after growing up in the relatively SF&F-free environment of a small town in southern Virginia.
9.The Colour of Magic -- Terry Pratchett -- See the notes on Douglas Adams above. Same story.
10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland
11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson -- I love this novel. I reread it periodically. Not my favorite Stephenson (that would be The Diamond Age), but a terrific novel.
12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons -- A terrific take on comics, but I think you have to be awfully familiar with the conventions of comics to really appreciate it.
13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson -- Stephenson is always entertaining.
14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks
15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein -- Classic Heinlein. The Wise Old Man dispensing philosophy and advice, weird powers, lovely women, constant bedhopping. What's not to like?
16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick
17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson -- This is a world I'd definitely like to revisit. A fascinating view of a future utterly unlike the past or present.
19.The Illuminatus! Trilogy -- Robert Shea & Robert Anton Wilson -- I tried reading it, but bounced off. Supposedly full of nifty stuff, but too much trouble to be worth slogging thru.
20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham -- Who? What?
fallenpegasus who gacked it from seawasp) Bold what you've read, strike out what you don't like, italicize what you'd like to read but haven't yet...1.
2. Nineteen Eighty-Four -- George Orwell -- A classic I'm glad I read, but not nearly as formative of my libertarian leanings as his Animal Farm, which I first experienced a chapter at a time when my second grade teacher read it to the class every day after lunch.
3. Brave New World -- Aldous Huxley -- Another classic I'm glad to have read but will probably never read again.
4. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? -- Philip K. Dick -- Never read it, probably never will. I've heard lots of good things about Dick, but I've also heard enough to know that his style (and themes and tone and whatnot) would not be a good fit for me.
5. Neuromancer -- William Gibson -- An entertaining book. His conception of cyberspace is fascinating and colorful but utterly unrealistic. For my money, a better cyberpunk novel is Walter Jon Williams' Hardwired.
6. Dune -- Frank Herbert -- A classic, and fascinating reading. But I tried to read the (first) sequel and bounced off. Never went back, never read any of the seemingly endless sequels.
7. I, Robot -- Isaac Asimov -- I know I read it, but....
8. Foundation -- Isaac Asimov -- I doubt I could sit thru it now, but I read it during my college years, when I was reading everything science fiction & fantasy related that I could get my hands on after growing up in the relatively SF&F-free environment of a small town in southern Virginia.
9.
10. Microserfs -- Douglas Coupland
11. Snow Crash -- Neal Stephenson -- I love this novel. I reread it periodically. Not my favorite Stephenson (that would be The Diamond Age), but a terrific novel.
12. Watchmen -- Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons -- A terrific take on comics, but I think you have to be awfully familiar with the conventions of comics to really appreciate it.
13. Cryptonomicon -- Neal Stephenson -- Stephenson is always entertaining.
14. Consider Phlebas -- Iain M Banks
15. Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein -- Classic Heinlein. The Wise Old Man dispensing philosophy and advice, weird powers, lovely women, constant bedhopping. What's not to like?
16. The Man in the High Castle -- Philip K Dick
17. American Gods -- Neil Gaiman
18. The Diamond Age -- Neal Stephenson -- This is a world I'd definitely like to revisit. A fascinating view of a future utterly unlike the past or present.
19.
20. Trouble with Lichen - John Wyndham -- Who? What?
